Circulating Textile Waste into Value

The European textile and clothing industry is a strategic pillar of the European economy with 140.000 companies and employing 1.300.000 people, it has a turnover of €147 billion and exports amount to €58 billion.

By the end of 2024, Europe will face the challenge to compulsory separate the collection of textile waste. As it stands, there is no large scale plan across Europe to reuse and recycle the current 7.5 million tons of textile waste.

To remain competitive, the industry is undergoing a deep transformation towards circularity and sustainability.

ReHubs is a partnership-based association. Its goal is to set up a synergic collective based on recycling hubs in Europe to upcycle textile waste & industrially scale up the collecting, sorting, processing and recycling of pre-consumer and postconsumer materials. ReHubs works across four different textile waste streams.

POST-CONSUMER

Textile waste generated by household and private consumers. Examples include clothing and home textiles.

COMMERCIAL

Textile waste generated after commercial use. Examples include textiles used in the hospitality sector.

PRE-CONSUMER

Textile waste generated at retail level. Examples include overstock, returns, damaged and all unsellable goods.

POST-INDUSTRIAL

Textile waste generated during the manufacturing and production. Examples include cut & saw, overruns, defect yarn.

KEY FIGURES FOR THE CIRCULAR VALUE CHAIN

7.5 million tons

of textile waste is generated in the EU in 2022

2.5 million tons

of textile waste is currently collected in Europe

4.5 million tons

of discarded textiles could be collected by 2030

The textile value chain for textile recycling is not yet mature: to go from a linear textile value chain to a circular one, 5 main parts of this value chain must be matured and scaled up: collection, sorting for recycling, sorting for reuse, pre-processing and recycling. In addition, it is an opportunity for near-shoring.